Best Bar None Scotland:
Supporting a Great Night Out PR campaign

The Campaign Brief

A great night out should be memorable for all the right reasons. But with 64% of stranger violence and 70% of violent incidents during evenings, nights and weekends linked to alcohol, according to Alcohol Policy UK, making Scotland’s nightlife safer is serious business.

Best Bar None Scotland is a national accreditation scheme helping licensed premises create safer environments through responsible alcohol service, staff training and customer care. From recognising vulnerable customers to encouraging responsible drinking, the scheme was making a real difference in communities across Scotland.

Yet despite operating in 58 towns and cities and contributing to reductions in alcohol-related crime, awareness of Best Bar None remained low. Cunningly Good Group was tasked with changing that. Our objectives were to raise awareness of Best Bar None venues as safe places to socialise, particularly among younger audiences; demonstrate the scheme’s value to communities; increase consumer engagement on social media; and celebrate the achievements of accredited venues through the National Awards Scheme.

Cunningly Good Group’s Approach

We knew that promoting safer drinking couldn’t be a one-size-fits-all exercise. The challenge was to make responsible drinking relevant, relatable and engaging, without sounding like the fun police.

We developed a seven-month integrated PR and social media campaign built around three complementary strands: #HaveASafeOne, targeting 18–25-year-olds; a 125ml drinks campaign aimed at adults aged 30 and over; and a community-focused awards campaign celebrating local licensed premises.

Timing was everything. We aligned activity with key occasions when people were more likely to be out socialising, including Freshers’ Week, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day.

For younger audiences, we created playful, iMessage-style animated videos featuring conversations between friends about choosing Best Bar None venues for a safer night out. A Valentine’s Day animation highlighted how trained venue staff could support someone feeling uncomfortable on a first date.

For older audiences, we took a different approach, creating a video comparing the calories in different wine measures with familiar treats such as cakes, chocolate and doughnuts, encouraging consumers to consider a smaller 125ml serving.

Alongside this, we delivered a targeted media relations campaign, identifying local publicans as spokespeople and securing opportunities to highlight the scheme’s community benefits.

We also put Best Bar None’s National Awards firmly in the local spotlight, developing tailored press releases for 11 regions across three stages: entries opening, shortlists announced and winners revealed. Live social media coverage and a celebratory awards video helped communities share in their local venues’ success.

The Cunningly Good Results

The campaign successfully put safer socialising on the agenda, generating national recognition, local pride and meaningful engagement with younger audiences.

45 pieces of media coverage secured across national, regional and local outlets, including The Herald and BBC Radio Scotland’s John Beattie Show, raising awareness of Best Bar None and its benefits to communities.
301,633 social media users reached, with campaign activity reaching every Best Bar None region in Scotland.
18,006 engaged users, achieving a 6% engagement rate, reported as above the industry standard, alongside 16,291 minutes of video watched.
A younger audience successfully engaged, with the predominant Facebook audience shifting from women aged 35–40 to women aged 18–24 and 25–34 during the campaign.
Widespread community recognition for accredited venues, with awards coverage appearing in local publications including the Evening Times, Edinburgh Evening News, Kilmarnock Standard, Inverness Courier, Press & Journal and Dundee Evening Telegraph.

Crucially, these results were achieved with a PR budget of just £9,630 over seven months and only £275 spent on Facebook advertising. By combining audience-specific creative content, timely messaging and local storytelling, Cunningly Good Group transformed an important but relatively little-known accreditation scheme into a conversation communities could engage with.

The campaign won a Silver award in the Community Relations category at the 2019 CIPR Scotland PRide Awards.